Understanding courses and batches in K-12 and higher education

myschool classifies institutions as Higher Education (colleges and universities) or K-12 (kindergarten to grade 12).

• Course: the programme or class a student studies; completing it qualifies the student to graduate or move on.
• Batch: the group of students taking that course over a period of time — a section, semester or intake.

Universities and colleges: programmes and intakes

Structures and terms vary by country, but the workflow is similar in most universities. Institutions offer several programmes (undergraduate, postgraduate, diploma, professional), each divided into periods that may be called:

• Semester
• Term
• Trimester
• Intake
• Module
• Session
• Academic level

Each cycle a new group of students is admitted, called a batch, cohort, intake or section. Students progress from the first level to the next after meeting each stage’s requirements.

Examples:

• A student joins Bachelor of Science – Intake 2026 and moves through Semester 1, 2, 3 and so on.
• Another institution uses Term 1, 2 and 3 instead of semesters.
• Some use Year 1, 2, 3 or Level 1, 2, 3.

Once all periods and graduation requirements are complete, the student is eligible to graduate.

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K-12: classes and sections

K-12 covers the full school journey from kindergarten to grade 12. Levels may be called:

• Kindergarten / preschool
• Primary school
• Middle school
• Secondary / high school

Students move to the next grade after completing the current year, for example:

• Kindergarten → Grade 1 → Grade 2 → … → Grade 12
• Year 1 → Year 2 → … → Year 12

A grade may be split into several sections or groups in the same year:

• Grade 5 – Section A
• Grade 5 – Section B
• Year 8 – Group 1

Students in different sections usually follow the same curriculum, subjects and schedule.

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Each institution can set up this structure and its own names using Courses & Batches and Custom Words.